Rotary engine.



s. BENNISON, DEGD.

M. BENNISON, EXBGUTRIX.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8, 191 2. 1,068,963. Patented July 29, 1913.

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S. BENNISON, DEGD. M. BENNISON, EXBOUTRIX.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLI OATION FILED MAYB, 1912.

Patented July 29, 1913.

A TTORNE Y8 COLUMBIA PLANOGRAP" co., WASHINGTON. n. c.

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL BENNISON, 0F GALVESTON, TEXAS; META BENNISON EXEGU'IRIX OF SAMUELBENNISON, DECEASED.

SAID

ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 8, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL BENNISON, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Galveston, in the county of Galves ton and State of Texas,have invented a new and Improved Rotary Engine or Pump, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to rotary engines or pumps and it has for itsobject to Provide one having packing rings for engaging the sides of thewheel near its periphery, to prevent the fluid under pressure fromescaping toward the axis of the wheel, so that its full power may beexerted on the impact faces of the buckets, which are spaced apart onthe piston wheel between the sides which are engaged by'the packingrings. The casing of the engine is provided with cooks for indicatingany escape of the fluid in the direction of the axis of the wheels, sothat, when necessary, the packing rings may be adjusted to prevent thefurther escape of the fluid. Another object of the invention is to pro-.vide a twin pillar hanger, having bearings spaced apart in which arejournaled sections of a main shaft, the shaft sections having flanges,which are normally bolted together, and which may be readily freed fromeach other to cut out a shaft section which is connected with one of therotary engines, or, when desired, to reverse the said shaft section tooperate the rotary engine connected therewith as a pump.

Still other objects of the invent-ion will appear in the followingcomplete specification, in which the preferred form of the invention isdisclosed.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in all the views, in which Figure l is a side sectional elevationof my rotary engine or pump; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view ofFig. 1; Fig. 8 is an elevation of the rotary pump with parts brokenaway, to show how the suction inlet and outlet pipes are connected whenthe device is used as a rotary pump; and Fig. 4 is an elevation showinghow the shaft sections with which the several rotary engines or pumpsare coupled, are connected together at the twin pillar hangers.

By referring to the drawings it will be seen that each rotary engine orpump has a curved and converging outwardly. The ini let port 16 is sodisposed in the casing 5 that the full force of the steam or fluid underpressure will strike against the impact face of the bucket 10 until theperiphery of the next bucket is about to pass the inlet port 16. In thecasing 5 there is an opening 14, between the inlet port 16 and theoutlet port 17, a separator 15 being disposed in this opening, and, asbest shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, pressing against the peripheriesof the sides 11 of the wheel, and also against the outer ends 18 of thebuckets 10. This separator 13 is engaged by a spring 19, the tension ofwhich is regulated by the set screws 20, which mesh in the threadedorifices 21 in the casing, and press against the spring 19. In the sides22 of the casing there are two circular grooves 23, which have the sameaxis as the shaft 8, and in these grooves 23 there are disposed packingrings 24 and 25, which press against the sides 11 of the wheel 6. Thepacking rings 24 and 25 have plates which are engaged by set screws 26,by which means the pressure of the packing rings 24 and 25 against thesides 11 of the wheel may be regulated. In the sides of the casing 22there are disposed pipes 27, commanded by valves 28, the pipes 27 beingdisposed between the packing rings 24 and 25. There are also pipes 29disposed between the packing rings 25 and the axis of the shaft 8, thesepipes 29 being commanded by the valves 30. These pipes 27 and 29, withtheir valves 28 and 30 are provided so that the engineer may readilydetermine whether the steam or other fluid under pressure is escapingpast the packing rings 24 and 25, and in the direction of the shaft 8.

Should it be found that the steam or other fluid under pressure isescaping past the packing rings 24 and 25, the packing rings may bepressed with greater force against the sides 11 of the wheels 6, bymeans of the set screw 26. In the bottom of the casing 5 there are drainoutlets 31, commanded by valves 32, for draining any fluid from theengine in the casing which may be contained therein, when the engine isat rest.

As shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, two of these engines or pumps may becoupled together, one to act as an engine for driving the other, whichoperates as a pump. lVhen one of the engines is to be operated as apump, one of the sides 22 of the casing is removed, and the wheel 6 isreversed so that the buckets 10 will extend and will be disposed in theposition shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. This having been done,additional separators 15, which are disposed in the openings 14 in thecasing, are pressed against the periphery of the wheel by means of theset screws 20 and the springs 19, these additional separators beingprovided to assist in producing the necessary suction to obtain the bestresults. When the device is used as a pump, the valve 33 in the pipe 33leading to the inlet port 16, and the valve 34 in the pipe 34 leading tothe exhaust port 17, are closed, and the plugs 35 are removed, theseplugs being normally disposed in the conical blocks 36, these conicalblocks 36 having threaded openings 37, with which the screws or plugs 35normally mesh. The conical blocks 36 fit conical openings 38 in theperiphery of the casing 5. The conical surfaces are provided to preventthe blocks 36 from extending inwardly, beyond the inner face at theperiphery of the casing. The flanges 39 on the conical blocks 36 aresecured to the casing 5 by the set screws 40. lVhen the blocks 35 havebeen removed the suction pipe 41 and the outlet pipe 42 are disposed inthe conical blocks 36, the said suction pipe 41 and the outlet pipe 42having threads 43 which mesh with the threads 37 in the conical blocks36. There are flanges 44 on the suction pipe 41, and the outlet pipe 42,to limit the inward movement of the said pipes.

lVhen the wheel 6 in one of the rotary engines or pumps has beenreversed, and the additional separators 15- and the suction and outletpipes 41 and 42 have been adjusted in position, as has been described,this rotary pump, which, in Fig. 4 of the drawings, is indicated by thereference character 45, is driven by the rotary engine disclosed inFigs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, and indicated by the reference numeral 46in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The rotary engine 46 receives the supply ofsteam from the pipe 33 which is in communication with the steam supplypipe 47, the exhaust pipe 34 leading to the pipe 48 which maycommunicate with another engine or with the atmosphere as may bedesired.

The outlet pipe 42 of the rotary engine 45,

which is being used as a pump communicates with the pipe 49 into whichthe fluid may be driven by other similar pumps 45.

I preferably supply the shafts 8 with two pulleys 50, one disposed ateach side of the casing, these pulleys 50 being connected with thepulleys 51, keyed to the shaft section 52. The terminals of this shaftsect-ion 52 are journaled in the bearings 53, in the twin pillar hangers54, so that the flange 55 on the shaft section 52 will be disposedbetween the bearing 53 and the bearing 56 on the said twin pillarhanger. In the arrangementshown in Fig. 4 of the drawings one of theseflanges 55 is bolted to a flange 57 on the shaft section 58, one end ofthis shaft section 58 being journaled in one of the bearings 56. Theshaft section 58 is provided with pulleys 58 these pulleys 58 beingconnected with the pulleys 59 on the shaft 60 by the belts 61. It willof course be understood that my twin pillar hangers on one of the shaftsections 58 may be readily disconnected from the shaft 52, by removingthe bolts which secure the flanges 55 and 57 together. By this means theshaft section 58, which connects with the rotary pump, may be readilydisconnected from the shaft section 52, which communicates with therotary engine 46. In the same way the shaft section 58 may bedisconnected from the shaft section 52, so that the shaft sections 52and 58 may be driven at different speeds or in opposite directions.

Having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. A rotary engine having an inlet and an exhaust, a wheel having sidesspaced apart, and buckets spaced apart around the wheel, and between thesides, the impact and the rear faces of the buckets converging outwardlyand being curved in the same general direction, and a separator disposedagainst the periphery of the wheel, between the inlet and the exhaust.

2. A rotary engine having an inlet and an exhaust, a wheel having sidesspaced apart, and buckets spaced apart around the wheel, and between thesides, the impact and the rear faces of the buckets converging outwardlyand being curved in the same general direction, a separator disposedagainst the periphery of the wheel, between the inlet and the exhaust,and packing rings engaging the sides of the wheel to prevent the escapeof the fluid under pressure toward the axis of the wheel.

3. In a rotary engine a casing having sides with circular grooves andinlet and exhaust ports, a wheel mounted for rotating in the casing andhaving sides spaced apart and buckets spaced apart around the wheel andbetween the sides, the impact and the rear faces of the bucketsconverging outwardly and being curved in the same general direction,packing rings disposed in the circular grooves, means for pressing thepacking rings against the sides of the wheel to prevent the escape ofthe fluid under pressure between the casing and the wheel, and towardthe axis of the wheel, an outlet in the casing between the packing ringsand the axis of the wheel, and a valve for controlling the outlet.

4. In a rotary engine a casing having sides with circular grooves, andinlet and exhaust ports, a wheel mounted for rotating in the casing andhaving buckets, packing rings disposed in the circular grooves, meansfor pressing the packing rings against the wheel to prevent the escapeof the fluid under pressure between the casing and the wheel, and towardthe axis of the wheel, the casing being provided with an outlet and avalve commanding the outlet.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for 5. In a rotary engine a casinghaving sides wlth inlet and exhaust ports, a wheel mounted for rotatlng1n the casing and having buckets spaced apart around the wheel, pack-SAMUEL BENNISON.

Witnesses:

J. H. SMITH, M. E. VERKIN.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. G.

